Roller blind and fitting therefor



Mal'h 17, 1931 w. J. HADDEN 1,797,204

ROLLER BLIND AND FITTTNG THEREFOR Filed Sept. 24, 1927 ,UNITED j sA'resPAT-ENT OFFICE@ oo'rLAND, AssIGNoR To DoNAVIDsoN ivIANU- i tory "in use,but it is foundY inpr'actice that Patented Mar. 17, k1931 XVLLIAM JTIADDEN, -O7F GLASGOW, `S

FACTURING COMPANY LIMIYITED, `01E"GrLASGrCXT, SCOTLAND i BoLLnR BLINDAND FITTNG 'rHEREFon Application. filed Septemberrr24, 1927, Serial NoVThis invention relates to roller blinds of the type including means(suoli, for instance,

' asa ratchet Wheel heldrto the blind roller -byk friction) forpermitting the blind to belowered4 to and held in different positionswhile saidY means is held stationary, and refers also to vthe fittingsfor said roller'blin'ds. c

`Infmy,prior ULS. specifications Serial Nos.

190,326 and 203,145 there is described aroller blind ofthe abovespecified type provided,

itis not absolutely fool-proof, because, if the saidcord retractingmeans is rotated in the wrongdirection, due to some error in assembly,the coil spring may .be broken.

'The object of the vpresent'invention is to overcome thisdefectjandtoprovide an arspring which .35 eans isrotated inja direction to.Y

randement which While bein-g cheap andeasily assembled will beabsolutely fool-proof` To this end.,` the present invention ischaracterized by anchoring means for the coil is `so'arranged that Whenthe retracting j l i raise the blind by 'the cord,'thecoilsprnganchoringy means is stationary,vbut when'v the retracting/.means Visrotated. in the opposite direction, thesaid anchoring means can -rotatevtherewith. :This can be obtainedl by using a` one-Way clutch device,such `as a n ratchet and pawl.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved manner ofanchoring one end ofy the coil spring to the sleeve, 1and Y to this end,the sleeve is provided with two slots eiitend'in'gas chords across "oneen dface ofthe sleeves,saidslots being mutually perpendicular to Y each'other and serving to receive vone end `oftheV spring. l

. 221,654, `and 'in Greatrrifain August 31, 1927.

AReferring .toY the drawings Fig. l is' ar longitudinal vsectionalelevation ment in which there' areV raising' meansVv at both ends. y n VFigL2 is a similar view of -one end of the roller only, drawn to 'anenlarged scale.;V

`Fig. Sis a sectional viewon the line 3-3 in Fig. 2. y

Fig.v 2.V

Fig. 4 is a sectional view' on line 4-4 in vof the blind roller,illustrating' an embodi- Fig. 5is an end view of one part removedshowingthe `improved manner of anchoring one end of the spring. j l n j In thepractical embodiment shown in the drawings the roller l to which theblind (not shown) vis fixed, may be of any lusual fornn Theendniembersare vconstructed as separate fittings each of 'which compriseawclrcular'flanged disc 5' engaging and fixed by screws 4 to theproximate end vof the roller Yand anaxiallyextending ournal which isformed with a shoulder .6 between its end andthe disc and isscrewedattsend 7. VV.On this journal there is aloosely mounted ratchetWheel l'vvhic'h vis frictionally clutched to 'the j journal by aspring'washer ll located between the s houlder anda disc washer ,12. incontactwith vthe ratchet wheel 13. A cord Vdrum of the ratchet wheel, inContact with the'side and 'being provided withtwo oppositely extendingcylindrical yflanges 16, 17 ,Within which there is iitted'discrings 1819, the one 19 at the outer yend being removable. {Between thek .drumvandthe inner disc ring 18 there is mounted a number of, say three,pawls 20 rockableonrivets2l extending between the said drum flange anddisc ring, and adapted to engage :With the ratchet Wheel.

lithintheV outerflanged-part l7-and rotatab'lymo'unted on`thefsleeve-nut 1`5fis a sleeve l22 between whichV and the said flangedpart is located'a coil yspring 23 anchored to the twofparts.,Y yOne end24 ofthespring '23 is passed through slots (noty shown) in the flangedparts 17y and the other end 26 -is passed through the slots 27--28`inthesleevev part 22.

la .is located on the journal at the outer side h thereof, thisdrumfbeing rotatably mounted i' on a sleeve nut l5 s'crewed'uponthe-journal f se .v

ers can be adjusted.

on the outside of the disc ring 19 co-operat-v ing with a pawl 29. Thisend fitting is also enclosed in a two part cover 30, 31,- one part ofwhich carries the pivot 32 of the pawl 29 and this part also carries abearing spindle V34 which projects within the sleeve nut 15.

' The cord 35 which is adapted to wind around the part between the drumflanges, is secured at-oneend by passing itv through a hole 37 in oneflange and knotting this end of the cord. The other end of the cordpasses through a hole 38 inthe cover part 30 and is preferably providedwith a tassel 39 or other similar device.

The ratchet wheel 25 and pawl 29 constitute a one-way clutch device soarranged that when the drum is rotated in a direction to raise the blindthe ratchet wheel 25 and the sleeve part 22 are held stationary by theengagement of the pawl 29 with the ratchet wheel 25 yso that the coilspring is tightened but when the drum is rotated in the oppositedirection the ratchet wheel 25 can trip the pawl 29 androtates with thedrum.

'A The two part covers v30, 31 are made to fit detachably together sothat the end fittings can be inspected and parts thereof adjusted,removed, changed and replaced. /These covers are provided with aperturedAlugs l0 by which they can Vbe iixed to the window fra1ne.` Y 1 n Thesleeve nut 15 can be moved by screwing.V it more or lessv on to thejournal and by this means-the tension ofthe springfwash- A grub screw 47is provided in the sleeve nut, which when screwed aga-inst thejournalserves to loclrthe sleeve nut in its adjusted position. v- Byremoving the covers, the sleeve 4vnuts and Vother lparts Y can bereadily adjusted, removedand changed or replaced. Y Y

Whereas, in the construction illustrated, the blind is provided at bothends with raising means, the two end members are of identicalconstructionexcept that, the journal, sleeve nut and grub screw at therighthand end. are provided with left hand threads and the same parts atthe left hand end are pro vided` with right hand threads toV preventthese parts from unscrewing by the operation of the blinds. Vhereraising means is provided at one end only of the roller, means such asthat described in my U. S.v specification Serial Number 190,326 will beprovided at the opposite end of the roller for holding the blind againstdownward movement by friction.

It will be understood that considerable alteration can be made in theiittings without departing from the spirit of this invention.

I claim l. A. roller blind having, a roller, a cord drumy for rotatingsaid roller to raise the blind, means for normally holding said corddrum stationary, means for holding said cord drum to the roller byfriction, for permitting the blind to be lowered to-and held indifferent positions while it is stationary, a coil spring on said corddrum, a sleeve part having two slots extending as chords across one endthereof and located mutually perpendicularV to each other adapted to receive and anchor one end of said spring and means for holding saidsleeve part stationary so that the spring is wound up when the drum isrotated to raise the blind whereby the cord drum is thereafter returnedto its initial position unidirectional clutching means for renderingsaid spring effective for said return only when the cord drum is movedin a direction to raise the blind.

j 2. A roller blind comprising, a roller, having at each end thereof ajournal with a shoulder, a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on saidjournal, means between said shoulder and ratchet Wheel Yfor frictionallyholding said ratchet wheel to said'` journal, a cord drum rotatablymounted at the other sideA of the ratchet wheel, a cord ony said drumadapted to rotate said roller for raising the blind, pawls on said drumengaging said vratchet wheel, a casing enclosing said journal and'itsassociatedv Yparts at one end, a coil spring secured at one end to saiddrum, ratchet and lpawl anchoring means for the opposite end ofsaid-spring, adapted to be held stationary when said cord drum isrotated to raise the roller so as to cause said spring to return thecord drum to its initial position relatively to the casing wherebythevcordis retracted to its initial position but allow the spring andanchoring means to rotate freely with the drum when the latter isrotated in an opposite direction and means for adjusting said'frictionholding means.

3. A roller blind comprising, a roller having aty each` end thereof ajournal withV a shoulder, aratchet wheel rotatably mounted on saidjournal, aY spring washer between said shoulder and said ratchet wheelfor holding said wheel to the journal by friction for permitting Vtheblind to be lowered to and held in different positions while. theratchet wheel is stationary, adrum rotatably mounted at the side of theratchet wheel, a cord for rotating the drum, pawls on said drum engagingsaid ratchet wheel adapted to cause` the drum when moved in onedirection to rotate the journal while permitting it to move ica ` 6. Aroller blind having a roller andend in the Vopposite directionindependently of said journal, a bearing fixed relative to saidjournal,` a coil spring between said fixed bearing and said drum andratchet and pawl y position downward movement of the blind being checkedat one end while vthe raising means at the other end is ybeing operated.

'4. The combination with a roller blind having, a roller, means forrestraining movement yof the roller for lowering the .blind but allowingfree movement of the roller for raising the blind, roller rotating'meansr adapted when moved in one direction to rotate the roller forraising the blind'but when moved in the other direction to rotateindependently of the said roller, resilient means adapted to return saidroller rotating. means to its initial position after it has been moved fy.of unidirectionalV clutching means for'rento raise the blind into therequired position,

dering said resilient means effective for said return only when theroller rotating means is moved in a directionto raise the blind. u

5. The combination with a roller blind having, a roller,means forrestraining movement of the roller for lowering the blind but allowingfree movement of the roller. for raisy lor 'moved in one direction torotate the roller for raising the blind but when moved in theotherdirection to rotate lindependently of the said roller, aspringvhavingone end attached to said cord'druni and being adapted toreturn Lthe cord drum to its initial position after it has been rotatedto raise the blind into the required position byV a pull on said i icord, of a ratchet Wheel freely pivoted relaf drum and in engagementwith said ratchet Y f fittings at end of said spring is attached, and atleast one pawlstationarily pivoted relative to said cord wheel,wherebysaid spring isv eii'ective for said return only when the corddrum is iof tated in a direction to raise the blind'.

each end therefor :each end fitting" comprising, a journalfiX'edto said`roller, a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted onsaidjournal, means forfrictionally holding said vratchet wheel to said journal, adrumrotatably mounted on said journal, aA cord for rotating the drum,pawls on said drum kengaging said ratchet wheel, adapted v4when the drumis rotated by the-cord to rotate the roller, but allow the drum torotate inthe opposite direction independently of said roll-V er, acasing adapted to belfixed to the window, f

a. coil spring secured at one end to said drum, a freely mounted ratchettowhich the other end of said coil spring is secured, and a fixed pawlco-operating with said ratchet, whereby the ratchet and the end of thespring secured thereto is adapted to be free to move with the druin` inone direction b-ut is heldstationary when the drum is Arotatedto'raisethe blind so as to returnthe cord drum` to its initial positionrelatively tothe casing whereby the cord is retracted to itsinitialpositionyand means on the cord cooperating with said casing toact as a stop thereby retaining the cord drum inV its initial positionwhereby the blind can be lowered by beingpulled down andcan be raised bypulling vthe cord at either endof' the roller, downward movement of theblind beingcchecked at one end while the raising means at theother endi'sbeing operated. I

' In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM JAMES HADDEN.

ving the blind, a cord drum adapted when tive to saidcord drum and towhich the other

